Y’all it’s one of my favorite non-official holidays of the year! It’s Powersheets lunch day and I am so excited by the idea of this tool going out in the world to help more people focus their time through grace based goal setting.
Now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- as much as I love them, there’s nothing magical about Powersheets. They are a tool and they only work if you use them. They are a tool and while they are a tool that works SO WELL for me, I know other people prefer other tools. With that being said… I’d like to gush about them again since they are truly one of my favorite tools and looking back over my 2019 Powersheets to see how far I’ve come this year has been really exciting.
Here are a few key ways Powersheets helped me this year:
*Powersheets helped me run a freaking half marathon while helping kids across the globe: OK, the ways they helped me do this technically started back in 2018, but the home stretch happened this year, and breaking down the final part of training as well as fundraising into manageable baby steps was crucial to this accomplishment. My commitment to Team World Vision is one of the most meaningful things I did this year. It has changed me and my perspective as well as showing me that I can do some crazy things I never thought possible.
*Powersheets helped affirm that I’m more than a number. Here’s one of the things I wrote on my “break your identity box” page: WHAT I’M TELLING MYSELF: “I am literally worth more dead than alive” CRUSHING THAT IDENTITY: “I am more than a number, even if that number is my credit score or net worth. I can help people right where I am with what I have.” This certainly ties back to my work with World Vision as well as our decision to work toward values based budgeting and giving what we can where we can on a regular basis. It also, weirdly, helped us stay on track with some of our financial goals this year.
*Powersheets helped me say no to some REALLY good things so I could focus on what my family needs in this season. It became clear to me this spring that my son needed more of our time and focus and he needed a slower pace. Two of my goals I uncovered in the Powersheets prep work this year were to “re-set family rhythms” and to “have more fun” and I wasn’t entirely sure what either of those would look like by the end of the year when I wrote those goals down and brainstormed some starting steps for each of them. What became abundantly clear as I worked through the end of month reflections and set new tending lists each month was that it looked like creating margin in our days. Slowing down the pace and turning inward more than I anticipated at the beginning of the year. It meant remembering what I want long term, even with some really great short term opportunities. And yes, it meant writing down some of my struggles with this because I am STILL fighting that inner perfectionist telling me I have to do it all.
*AND… perhaps the biggest help in this second half of the year, Powersheets allow you to shift goals or approach them in new ways, and because of that they have been helping us prepare to become a family of five. I watched my reflections in them go from writing out many notes and worries about feeling 100% torn about ever being pregnant again to feeling that this was something that I probably wanted when I thought about life in the big picture and what I want most when Im 80 but still feeling unsure when or how to add to our family, to feeling a big shift as my birthday approached and all I could thing about was this big “what if” that made me feel like I was putting off all other decisions. This is something else I wrote in the prep work last December: I can’t decide on having another baby until I figure out career and home stuff AND I can’t figure out career and home stuff until I decide on having another baby. I’m paralyzed” and this is something I wrote a few months later about that same topic: “”I don’t have to have a perfect plan to make a decision, go after a goal, or live my life.”
Here are some other gems from my prep work as I wrote about what my life might look like by the end of 2019: “My life would be more focused on kindness and family…. I want to be surrounded by more natural beauty, I want to give what I can without feeling guilty about what I can’t…” And that vision has led to a year that included outdoor theatre, running in events for various charitable organizations, so much more hiking than I’ve done before, theatre that touches on feminism and environmental concerns and questions what an individual can do, what power they might have. It has led to giving back through joining a leadership position in my MOPS group and embracing the absurdity of over the top milkshakes. It has led to important conversation and facing fears and dance parties during car time with the kids. I have discovered a flexibility and playfulness that has been crucial as I struggle with the physical and mental limitations pregnancy places on me. I have used my creativity to make budgets stretch, to help my kids learn in different ways, to say YES to things that still fit (be it specially, in the budget, or in our calendar) or offer unique alternatives for things that don’t. I have strengthened my resolve to look back on family memories and use them as a way to be thankful for the fun we’ve had this year, to keep going on goals for the year even though my approach to them has completely had to shift, and to remain PRESENT through it all, even though there have been days I just desperately want to fast forward to February when our next big family shift will occur.
Did I mention they come with amazing stickers?! Because that’s a bonus that always makes me smile.
Powersheets have helped me reflect month by month on the next best steps. And they have reminded me that there is a ton of grace for when I can only take one extra tiny step forward instead of the several I wish were possible.
And it’s only October! I am looking forward to my end of year re-cap when I can look back at the whole year and look ahead to what might be next. If you want to join me in a few weeks on prepping for an awesome 2020, Powersheets launch today and you can order them by CLICKING HERE to be sure you have them in time. One of my favorite things about this process is really taking my time with the prep work and not just rushing through goal setting in the days between Christmas and New Year’s.
AND if you have your Powersheets from this year and forgot about them or are feeling discouraged- we still have 2.5 months to make some really good things happen in 2019! I’m cheering you on.
Alphabet Resolutions 